During the latest Kojima Productions podcast, it was revealed that the game's core mechanic, the ability to chop up whatever, was implemented pretty quickly. Initially, a prototype was made on the Metal Gear Solid 4 engine, and it seemed interesting enough. However, there was a sense that the game needed something else for it to work.

What seemed like an endless series of prototypes were created. The team working on the game didn't know how to make it work, everyone seemed to have different notions of what Rising was, and the game's original director didn't have much pull with getting the team onboard with his vision. The project ended up cancelled, even though the motion capture, story, and missions had already moving heading towards completion.

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Moreover, the team working on the project had developed strong feelings for Rising. The sticking point, however, was the unfinished game design—a problem for, you know, a game.

The idea was that somewhere along the line the game design would fall into place.

That's when Platinum Games entered. Atsushi Inaba, who produced Okami and God Hand, was visiting Kojima Productions and said how unfortunate it was that the game was half-finished. One thing lead to another, and Platinum Games happily took on the project with the concept "a game that features mind-blowingly good cutting."

Kojima Productions was working on the ability to freely finely slice-and-dice in the game, but apparently, Platinum Games not only retained that, but also added a rapid barrage of cuts, resulting in a more exciting experience.

The game will not be directed by Platinum Games' Hideki Kamiya, but by someone else to be revealed at a later date. And while the original intention was to use the original story, Platinum Games offered to "fix" the game's story—taking the title further from its original conception and closer to the games Platinum Games.

For Platinum Games, game creation starts with game design and then story. Thus, in creating Rising, it had to start from zero for the story so it could focus on game design.

That's why the game's title changed from Metal Gear Solid: Rising to Metal Gear Rising: Revengenace. It's not a Metal Gear Solid title, but a new spin-off that will reflect the collaboration between Kojima Productions and Platinum Games.